Con's gonna con- trump and the Forbes 400 wealth list

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by Cruithne

Are you regretting your vote?

I live in Illinois. My vote did not matter.

[r small]

Originally Posted by craigiri

Unfortunately, his "success" and election reflects on the USA and our people as a whole.
It was predicted long ago.

I have lived through a lot of POTUS terms (IKE onward)...and while there have been some scary characters close to the office (VPs like Palin and Quayle), none of the real idiots made it to the Oval Office until GW. Being a history nut, I knew enough (and read up) on GW to know he was going to be useless...and was not up to the job. However, when he was appointed (which made it doubly bad), I thought "well, how much harm can he really do - maybe this will just be a comedy act?"...

Wow, was I wrong? Who would have possibly thought one man could do so much damage? I won't ever list anything past the first two (Great Recession and Wars), but there are so many other things he did (or didn't do) that we pretty much went backwards about 20 years...

But even he had some reasonable people in his administration. Some business, like the EPA and higher MPG...went onward (Bush actually signed it!), so we can't compare GW to the current POTUS.

We have finally hit the very very bottom - to the point where an Actual baboon with 3 or 4 buttons in front of him or her could do as good of a job (most decisions are simply multiple choice)....

The famous writer H L Mencken:

"he wrote 96 years ago predicting that, "On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

The moron observation was the last line of a column that appeared July 26, 1920, in the Baltimore Evening Sun, a newspaper Mencken helped found"

The only good thing about this POTUS, if we actually survive, is that it is likely our next one will probably rate much higher....although a Pence type character wouldn't really be good either (world is gonna end, christian nation, and all that)....

At this point of my life I'm not holding my breath awaiting the doing away with Citizen United and all of the election fraud. I just really hope it doesn't cost my kids and grandkids too much in blood and treasure.

I must say, however, that I will gloat long and hard if Trump comes in one the last 2 or 3 spots in the historical rankings. So far he's doing great - #45 out of 45! That's a hard goal to reach...

Sure, Nixon was a madman...and a crook. But he was smart and he actually did a bunch of things that could be looked back on as positive. You could say the same about all the POTUS'es of our time, IMHO...except two. GW and Mr. Trump. They do not receive a passing grade (from historians or yours truly).

Wise man that Mencken. Here's another quote: "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." And they sure got it in 2016.

[Fleet]

Originally Posted by r small

Trump is now referring to James Comey as "shadey Comey". Jeezus Christ! He can't even spell the word "shady". The guy is practically illiterate. What a maroon.

A "maroon?" What is that?

[r small]

Originally Posted by Fleet

A "maroon?" What is that?

Brooklynese for "moron". You never heard of Bugs Bunny?

[glamatomic]

Originally Posted by craigiri

Unfortunately, his "success" and election reflects on the USA and our people as a whole.
It was predicted long ago.

I have lived through a lot of POTUS terms (IKE onward)...and while there have been some scary characters close to the office (VPs like Palin and Quayle), none of the real idiots made it to the Oval Office until GW. Being a history nut, I knew enough (and read up) on GW to know he was going to be useless...and was not up to the job. However, when he was appointed (which made it doubly bad), I thought "well, how much harm can he really do - maybe this will just be a comedy act?"...

Wow, was I wrong? Who would have possibly thought one man could do so much damage? I won't ever list anything past the first two (Great Recession and Wars), but there are so many other things he did (or didn't do) that we pretty much went backwards about 20 years...

But even he had some reasonable people in his administration. Some business, like the EPA and higher MPG...went onward (Bush actually signed it!), so we can't compare GW to the current POTUS.

We have finally hit the very very bottom - to the point where an Actual baboon with 3 or 4 buttons in front of him or her could do as good of a job (most decisions are simply multiple choice)....

The famous writer H L Mencken:

"he wrote 96 years ago predicting that, "On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

The moron observation was the last line of a column that appeared July 26, 1920, in the Baltimore Evening Sun, a newspaper Mencken helped found"

The only good thing about this POTUS, if we actually survive, is that it is likely our next one will probably rate much higher....although a Pence type character wouldn't really be good either (world is gonna end, christian nation, and all that)....

At this point of my life I'm not holding my breath awaiting the doing away with Citizen United and all of the election fraud. I just really hope it doesn't cost my kids and grandkids too much in blood and treasure.

I must say, however, that I will gloat long and hard if Trump comes in one the last 2 or 3 spots in the historical rankings. So far he's doing great - #45 out of 45! That's a hard goal to reach...

Sure, Nixon was a madman...and a crook. But he was smart and he actually did a bunch of things that could be looked back on as positive. You could say the same about all the POTUS'es of our time, IMHO...except two. GW and Mr. Trump. They do not receive a passing grade (from historians or yours truly).

+1

Very interesting and insightful post! Thank you for taking the time to share your outlook, especially the Mencken quote! :thumbsup:

[craigiri]

I'm in the middle of a book on LBJ - he has such a strong public image that I have never read much on him before. Yet I knew that he produced many of the current programs that make our nation what it is (true civil rights, medicare, environment, head-start, education and much much more)....

What a man! He was unfortunately tainted by Vietnam, which was not his doing....the book has recorded conversations back at the start and he was "listening to the generals) as well as to 80% plus of Congress which were all Hawks. He even called IKE for advise. But that's all people think about when it comes to LBJ...

The book has recorded phonecalls as well as statements from those who worked with him. Only a few times in history has Congress done do much...and not because they wanted to, but because LBJ worked them.

What a difference to our current POTUS who can't corral Congress at all. LBJ and his staff actually worked hard on the basics of 100's of bills and then asked the Congress to consider them (of course, in the end, the Bills were 100% Congress since that's the way our system works)....

Name the topic and he did it. Food security, farm bills, the war on poverty (which, contrary to right-wing history, worked and took the poverty rate from 22% to 12%...it has never been higher than 18% since).

An interesting fact is he did 90% of his work in the first year after election because he knew politics. What this means is that you've already seen the "best" our of the current Moron that adorns the WH.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

The LBJ Library and Museum in Austin, TX is well worth touring.

LBJ's efforts moved our nation along. He knew there would be a political price to pay for Civil Rights but believed it needed to be done.

Why he didn't deal with the Vietnam lies right away is a mystery to me. He was a sharp man. Surely, he knew what was actually going on.

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

But back to Trump and his attempts to con Americans into believing his presidency is not mired in the muck.

Trump may have been able to fool Forbes about his wealth, but there is no fooling folks about what is going on now.

His personal attorney just pleaded the 5th.

Pruitt is headed to Congress to explain what he's been up to.

Nominee to head up the VA is fending off accusations that he's a fall down drunk without the qualifications to head up a VA hospital let alone the entire VA.

Mulvaney just came right out and openly called for bribes.

CBO says the budget deficit is growing by leaps and bounds.

Special Counsel investigation continues to investigate and hand down indictments.

If Democrats take the House, which is looking increasingly likely, there will be 21 committee chairs looking into everything from extravagant spending of taxpayers' dollars at Trump properties to allowing those without security clearances access to classified information.

And I doubt these committee chairs will be as easily conned as Nunes.

Or Forbes.